“The MTA is a disgrace,” said State Senator Tony Avella at a Queens borough president candidates' forum last week. He was discussing how difficult it has become for seniors to access public transportation in Queens and the outer-boroughs.

While his sentiment about the MTA may be a bit harsh, he has a point.

In New York City all roads, or at least almost all of the trains save for one, lead to Manhattan. If an Astoria resident wants to get to the Barclays Center it’s easier to go through Manhattan than it is to find a direct route from Queens to Brooklyn.

Why should we have to go so far out of our way just to visit the underground subway tunnels of Manhattan? You’re not even getting out of the train car.

Yes, the MTA has is operating on a temporary $6 million surplus for next year and has pledged to add additional train and bus service with an additional $14.3 million allocated in the budget. However, the long term seems less optimistic.

Reports show the city’s transit system is expecting a $240 million deficit from 2015 to 2017, threatening additional outer borough service in the years to come.

With residents moving in droves to neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Long Island City, DUMBO, Astoria and other up-and-coming neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn, an alternative plan for the residents who rely on public transit in these areas is going to be needed.

And more and more businesses are moving, too. The creative minds are not only living in the outer-boroughs, but they’re working there, too.

It may be too costly and therefore nearly impossible to ask for additional train stations, but the MTA needs to develop a plan to intertwine express bus and train service to provide outer-borough residents a timely commute.